Tag Archives: Edison

Federal law suit exposes unconstitutional taking of funds from 17-million Southern Californians for San Onofre Failure

Citizen’s Oversight and the law firm of Aguirre & Severson have filed a Federal lawsuit against two top public utility officials and Southern California Edison (SCE) for violating the constitutional rights of SCE and SDG&E ratepayers by taking money without just compensation.

WHO: Every single customer of SDG&E and Southern California Edison, Ray Lutz of Citizens Oversight, consumer attorney Maria Severson, former City Attorney Mike Aguirre, along with victims of utility overcharges.

WHAT: Federal lawsuit exposes how two public officials with a history of granting favors to utility executives allowed rates charging each citizen an estimated $229.00 (more than $1,000 per electric meter) for the failed San Onofre plant in violation of the “just compensation” provision in the U.S. Constitution. Continue reading→

CPUC IDENTIFIES CHANGES NEEDED TO PROPOSED SAN ONOFRE SETTLEMENT BEFORE FURTHER CONSIDERATION CAN BE GIVEN

SAN FRANCISCO, September 5, 2014 – The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) today identified changes that must be made to a proposed settlement regarding the failed steam generator tubes at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station before the settlement can be considered by the CPUC’s Commissioners.

In a Ruling issued today, the Commissioner assigned to the case, Mike Florio, and the Administrative Law Judges for the case said that the proposed settlement disfavors consumers and that certain changes must be made before they can give the settlement further consideration. The settlement was proposed earlier this year by the following settling parties: Coalition of California Utility Employees, Friends of the Earth, Office of Ratepayer Advocates, San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E), Southern California Edison (SCE), and The Utility Reform Network (TURN). Continue reading→

Edison requests exemptions from safety regulations at San Onofre while the NRC hides important documents and refuses to implement new safety recommendations

Roger Johnson, PhD

Fireworks broke out last week when Senator Barbara Boxer confronted Nuclear Regulator Commissioners at a Senate oversight committee hearing about the safety of nuclear power plants. It turns out that months ago Southern California Edison made lengthy requests to the NRC for a long list of exemptions from safety regulations. They did this quietly at the same time they formed (with much public relations fanfare) their own Community Engagement Panel (CEP) which has become a forum for Edison to boast about its concern with safety.

At the Senate Environmental and Public Works Committee hearing on June 5, Senator Boxer waved a thick fistful of exemption requests that Edison submitted to the NRC way back in March. The commissioners responded by saying that they cannot comment on the exemption requests because they never saw the requests. Apparently the NRC staff never showed the documents to the 5 commissioners. Continue reading→

San Clemente – As the Community Engagement Panel (CEP) plans for its next meeting (May 22, 6 PM at the Hills Hotel in Laguna Hills), many are reflecting over what happened at the last meeting on May 6. This was a workshop held in San Juan Capistrano to discuss the storage of San Onofre nuclear waste. When the plant was built, everyone was assured that nuclear waste would be moved elsewhere right about now. But it is beginning to look like highly radioactive nuclear waste may be here for many years to come.

San Onofre was never designed to be a waste storage facility. Everyone agrees that this is a dangerous location because of its vulnerability to earthquakes and tsunamis and the fact that it is located in the middle of two densely populated metropolitan areas. It is also a choice target for terrorists, and there is always the danger of human error. Add to this the danger of fire as evidence by the recent blazes at Camp Pendleton which came within a few miles of the plant. Continue reading→

“SONGS has served this region for over 40 years,” said Ted Craver, Chairman and CEO of Edison International, parent company of SCE, “but we have concluded that the continuing uncertainty about when or if SONGS might return to service was not good for our customers, our investors, or the need to plan for our region’s long-term electricity needs.” Continue reading→

SAN ONOFRE: Edison expects to shut down and restart reactor repeatedly over next two years

‘Disgraceful’ scheme for risky nuclear experiment could begin June 1

WASHINGTON, April 3 – In an extraordinary admission, Southern California Edison said today that as part of the experimental plan to restart one of the crippled San Onofre nuclear reactors, the utility expects to have to shut it down and restart it four or five times in the next two years. Edison also confirmed that it will ask the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to approve an amendment to their operating license, which would mean a public hearing would be only held after the decision is made. Continue reading→